Yet another spontaneous inquiry to share! This one stemmed from a few students in particular who were interested in rockets. The rockets had us talking about the moon, the idea of landing on other planets, and space in general. The interest was present within a small group for a few weeks before we took it…

This was a spontaneous inquiry that came out after watching another class perform a Circus show as part of their IPC topic: The Circus is Coming to Town. As soon as we got back to our class, they began practicing and performing. It was impossible to ignore, because it was going on inside the classroom,…

The original inspiration for this unit came from a topic through the International Primary Curriculum (IPC) called Media Magic, which is mainly focused on the technology part, but instead we focused on different ways we communicate (people and animals, as well as technology). We first had a brainstorm about the word communication and what it…

Who am I? Miss Alanna (the teacher) and regular Alanna (the self), what I thought I would be before I started teaching. I find it hard to separate who I am as a person and what kind of teacher I am, or want to be. I have never been able to find the line that…

In one of my Masters courses, Current Issues, we have been talking about teaching children who have experienced/are experiencing trauma, and mental health issues in schools. It’s made me reflect on situations where I have been involved in those things with my own students. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, Kindergarten is…

Before we get into this.. here’s some background info: I am currently studying for my Masters in Curriculum and Instructional Design. Since I’ve started teaching, I have been drawn to people that challenge educational norms. I have always felt a bit different in the way I teach and in my philosophy as a teacher. I…

“They’re killing all the bugs!” – L The beginning of this inquiry came after recess one day when the children were lining up, and a child was crying. L explained that a few other children were going around stepping on all of the bugs that they found. When we got back upstairs, we had a…

If you know me, at all, you know that I create almost everything that I use in the classroom. Usually I’d rather make something, than spend hours searching the internet to find something. I’ve started to really collect the things I’ve made, and as I am doing this, I have set up an account on…

ICT… IT… TECH… iPads… Computers… that stuff-that-never-works-when-you-need-it-to… whatever you call it.. I LOVE IT. Our classroom was be filmed by a local German TV station in October 2016 because of our use with technology. I’m pretty techy and I love to learn about new APPs, new ways to extend learning and thinking, and I looooooove to trial…

I have a dream, which is to open my own school (or head one that I can make really radical changes in.. haha) There are classes/activities/courses that I think should be part of the school day that aren’t in our current systems, and also the way the day is structured needs some re-thinking. I’m going to…

I’ve been thinking about math a lot lately. Specifically – I was thinking about how the children in my class were showing me their understanding of math (numbers, measurement, patterns, size/shape, etc) through their play, through their manipulation of the materials they’re working with, through their discussions… Do I give value to what they’re doing…

Writing in general is very subjective. In the early years, writing = mark making = scribbling = drawing = letters/signs/symbols The important thing to note is that children begin ‘writing’ before we even notice it. There are a bunch of rubrics/samples/guides when talking about writing in the early years, and I’ll share some of my…